InfoBytes Blog
GAO Urges CFPB Participation In Virtual Currency Working Groups
On June 26, the GAO released a May 2014 report regarding virtual currency. The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee asked the GAO to examine potential policy issues related to virtual currencies and the status of federal agency collaboration in this area. The report summarizes virtual currency policy developments to date, and provides an overview of various interagency working groups and the ways each has so far addressed virtual currencies. The GAO concludes that consumer protection issues have largely not been addressed by the working groups, and recommends that the CFPB identify and join existing interagency working groups to ensure that consumer protection issues are considered as those groups develop virtual currency policies. In response to the report, the CFPB stated that it has been doing its own work on virtual currency, and has collaborated informally, but agreed that it should participate formally in interagency working groups.